DIY: Mod Podge + Fabric Scraps = Happy Furniture

Sometimes I get halfway through and stop because I need inspiration again.

Or because a new project had to take precedence for whatever reason.

Or it’s a particularly arduous task and I need a break.

Or, in this case, a slew of major holidays get in the way.

But tonight I was determined to finish this little project and cross it off my list.

And I did.

I actually bought the fabric I needed for it over two months ago. And the only reason I know that is because I instagrammed a picture.

Thank goodness for Instagram, because otherwise, who knows how I’d keep track of things?

And as an aside, I wish Instagram would date pictures properly, instead of “two months.” If flickr, Picasa, and the rest of them can, then Instagram needs to get with the program.

So the project.

In our kitchen, we have a mini table and four chairs. Originally the table and chairs were in Nick’s room, long ago when he was Madeline’s age. When we moved back into this house over three years ago, we decided to put it in the kitchen, creating a little snack/homework area for the kids.

The table is dark brown, and the chairs were white.

It was time for a face lift.

The kids and I went and picked out some fabric in bright happy colors that would mix and match well together. I bought a half-yard of each, which was enough to do four chairs, with tons leftover. After cutting all the fabric into little squares, I brushed the chair seats with a coat of Mod Podge. Then I applied the fabric pieces in random order. The only thing I tried to pay attention to was to mix up the pieces so the same swatches were not together. You know, quilt-like.

And this is about as close to quilt-like as I get.

I did a row at a time, then brushed a layer of Mod Podge over the fabric to seal it in place. Once the entire seat was covered, another layer of Mod Podge. Once that was done (and dried), I put a layer of clear gloss polyurethane over it to seal it and make it look pretty.

A quick fix that breathed new life into these little chairs, and just the thing for that little kitchen area.

If you have children’s furniture (or any furniture really), this is an easy DIY to do, and perfect, especially, for garage sale and flea market finds. You can mix and match colors and themes to go with what the room has, and it’s super budget-friendly. It cost me under $15 to do this. Steps of this project are also kid-friendly too. Madeline helped me with the Mod Podging part, but I, of course, kept her away from the polyurethane part. Heck, the smell alone would have kept her away. Mod Podge is great with little helper hands because I could adjust a little fabric curl here and there if she got stuck.